“OK, follow me.”

As Tina walked beside Eric she caught sight of a woman. Dark hair, olive skin, expressive eyes and the most beautiful smile that Tina had ever seen. This could only be one woman. The infamous Bette Porter. Tina felt a tiny hitch in her breath that she couldn’t remember ever experiencing before. There was no time to analyse it now. She was being introduced.

“Excuse me, Bette. This is my girlfriend, Tina Kennard. She heads up development at Alphaville. Tina, Bette Porter.”

“Nice to meet you.” came the reply from the woman that had captured Tina’s attention.

“Nice to meet you.” was all that Tina could say in reply.

“Bette, we were wondering…how would Catherine Opie feel about us blowing up that print to about five by six feet.”

“Well, why don’t you ask her yourself? She’s right over there.” said Bette pointing to a short haired woman in the distance.

“I think I’ll just stay here.”

“OK. Excellent.” replied Eric as he moved away, leaving his girlfriend to talk to Bette.

“Eric’s great supporter of mine and, I have to say, a great customer.” said Bette, concentrating her full attention on Tina.

“He loves art, it’s his great passion.”

“And you?”

“I’m not sure that I understand it to the level that I should to fully appreciate it.”

“Take a look around, if there’s anything that you really like I’m sure that I can provide an explanation. All you have to do it ask and I’ll be happy to help.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. I should go and talk to some of my other guests but I’ll catch up with you later. You can tell me about how the art makes you feel.”

“Makes me feel?” asked Tina, quizzically.

“Yes, great art should make you feel something.”

“I’ll have to let you know.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” smiled Bette, not wanting to move but knowing that she should.

Tina walked towards a painting that had caught her attention when she first came in. As she stood and studied the artwork she thought about the conversation that she had just had with Bette. If she didn’t know better then she could be convinced that Bette had been flirting with her and there was something within her that liked it, loved it almost. Tina shook her head, trying to clear any confusing thoughts from her mind. Bette was a woman, a beautiful woman no doubt, but she was still a woman but as much as Tina stood there trying to deny it there was an attraction, a connection that was instantaneous between them.

Tina looked around, her eyes scanning the room for Eric. When her eyes finally found him she expected something to settle in her. To find comfort in the man that she had been seeing, sleeping with, and she supposed, falling in love with. Instead she found herself measuring him against the feeling that she had when she first laid eyes on Bette.

Her and Eric’s romance had been gradual. They had been introduced by someone that Tina knew who worked on Eric’s office. They had been out together amongst friends a few times before Eric asked her if she wanted to go for a drink. Tina said yes, and kept saying yes and now they were here, at The Bette Porter Gallery as a couple, who everyone thought was made for each other. Everyone except Tina, and now, maybe, she was finding out why.

“Are you coming to sit down?” came a voice from behind her.

“Yeah, I just really like this one.”

“You’ve lost your earring in your hair.” said Bette, reaching up to rescue the earring.

“Thank you.” replied Tina, taking the earring from Bette, the slightest brushing of her fingers against Bette’s making her heart beat a little faster.

Tina quickly looked back at the painting to hide the blush that she knew was beginning to form. As much as Tina wanted to look away she desperately wanted to see how Bette had reacted. She tried to focus on Bette out of the corner of her eye but it was no good, she was going to have to turn around, to face the woman who was currently playing havoc with her emotions.

“Are you OK?” asked Bette, smiling that disarming smile.

“I’m feeling a little light-headed.” admitted Tina.

“Maybe you need to eat something. I had James, my assistant, rearrange the seating arrangements so that you could tell me about what feelings the art provoked in you over dinner.

“That’s very kind of you.”

“It’s my privilege, and it gives Eric a chance to talk some more to Catherine Opie. He really is a big fan of hers.”

“I know, sometimes I think he’s more of a fan of hers than he is of me.”

“Somehow I doubt that.” said Bette over her shoulder as she led the way to the table.

The dinner passed in a blur for Tina. She felt herself revealing more to Bette over the course of two hours than she had done in months with Eric. There was something about this woman that made her feel free. Maybe it was her confidence or the way she seemed to tune out the rest of the table to concentrate on exactly what Tina had to say and even when Tina felt like she was saying something stupid about the art that Bette had collected there was no judgement, just an encouragement to fully vocalise her opinions. They laughed about the smallest things, like it was there own private joke and to let the rest of the world in would ruin it for the two of them. For the first time Tina felt no doubt, and this unnerved her.

When dinner ended Eric came round to Tina’s side of the table. He sat down in the seat that had been vacated by Bette as she had to see some of her guests out. He looked at Tina and tried to read the look of her face, there was something there that he had never seen before. A happiness that ran deep within her. He could only imagine what had caused that.

“You looked like you were having a good time.”

“Bette’s a fascinating woman, and very knowledgeable about her subject.”

“That she is and I gave her your number so that you can arrange another visit here when you want. Was that OK?” agreed Eric.

“Yes, that’s great. It would be good to come back in more informal circumstances. If it’s OK with you I think I might like to leave now. I have an early start in the morning so I don’t want to be too late to bed.”

“Stay with me tonight.”